Flyin' Our Disney Freak Flags High! A LAH LAH, Elsa & Peepa Trip (updated 3/22)

[LAH LAH]

FLYIN' OUR DISNEY FREAK FLAGS HIGH!
~ a LAH LAH, Elsa & Peepa trip report ~​

Hello, and welcome to another LAH LAH trip report! Man, oh, man did we have a fun time! Thanks for joining us, and be prepared to stay a while, as I love the company and I tend to be long winded. Not as many pictures as in the past, but not as many people, so I think that has something to do with it. Or maybe I was just tired. I'm not quite sure at this point as my life seems to be a perfect storm for tiredness. Ha! Either way, it was such a lovely trip and a wonderful time to catch my breath, so to speak. Can't wait to share all of it with you, and as always can't wait to go back!!

The Setting:

Time Frame:
January 30th - February 4th 2014

The Main Characters:

(Elsa, Melissa and Garry)

Melissa:

I am Melissa (LAH LAH) bio mom, adoptive mom, and foster mom. I have 5 children: Michael (16), Elsa (14), Easton (5), Chase (4) and Noah (2). I love Jesus, Disney, being a mom, singing, and have recently been hired by AAA as a Disney Travel Agent!!! I get to work from home and make my own hours, all while helping people save money at my happiest of happy places! I am so blessed!

Favorites:
Character: Mary Poppins
Park: Magic Kingdom
Roller Coaster: Mount Everest
Ride: Pirates of the Caribbean

Elsa:

Elsa (Cha Cha) is my 14 year old daughter. She is an extraordinary young lady! I know all parents brag on their children, but in this case it is totally warranted. Ha! She loves sports, singing, acting, and playing her clarinet. She is a super busy girl and getting away for this trip without her brothers was a good thing for her. She's a straight A student who puts great effort and commitment into everything she does, and she's super fun to be around.

Favorites:
Character: Sully
Park: Magic Kingdom
Roller Coaster: Space Mountain
Ride: Toy Story Mania

Garry:

Garry (Peepa) is my dad, and we were excited to have him come and join us on this trip. He usually tries to meet us at Disney when we plan trips, but with my mom (Meema) staying home my 4 boys, we weren't sure if it would work out. He has an awful lot on his plate (he is plant manager at a company that makes centrifugal switches *don't ask me, I don't really understand what that means* and also owns and runs a successful landscaping business...the man is busy). He was slated for major surgery on his leg 2 weeks after this trip and finally decided to put everything to the side for a few precious days with his favorite (this has not been verified) daughter and his favorite (read: only) granddaughter!

Favorites:
Character: Mickey Mouse
Park: Magic Kingdom
Roller Coaster: Space Mountain
Ride: Carrousel of Progress

Supporting Cast at Home:

Michael:

Easton, Chase & Noah:

Meema:

Thanks for joining us, and I hope you enjoy our trip!​

(our PTR with a little more background)​

 

[LAH LAH]

Links:

Day 1 (Travel and Magic Kingdom)

Our Vacation Begins
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP...

Day 2 (Epcot)

Day 3 (Hollywood Studios)

Day 4 (Magic Kingdom)

Day 5 (Disney Quest and Travel Home)

 

[Holly324]

Can't wait to read your report! You have such a sweet family. Congrats on the new job!

 

[saintstickets]

Subbed in!

 

[littlezar]

YAY!!!! So happy to see you back! Can't wait to read about your adventures!

 

[cstorm65]

Signing up for the report! Love that you have children through the blessing of adoption and through fostering. Our son is adopted as well and it is a fantastic blessing! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[LAH LAH]

Can't wait to read your report! You have such a sweet family. Congrats on the new job!

Yay! You made it! It's always awkward until you have your first post other than your own. Hahaha!

Subbed in!

So happy to have you join along!

YAY!!!! So happy to see you back! Can't wait to read about your adventures!

Welcome back, littlezar!

Signing up for the report! Love that you have children through the blessing of adoption and through fostering. Our son is adopted as well and it is a fantastic blessing! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Congratulations on the adoption of your son! Here is a little more info on our family dynamic Annnnd...welcome!!!

 

[cstorm65]

Congratulations on the adoption of your son! Here is a little more info on our family dynamic Annnnd...welcome!!!

Awesome story!

 

[LAH LAH]

Our Vacation Begins!​

This was by far the shortest time between booking and the actual taking of the trip we have ever had. In some ways it was great to have only a month and a half to wait for the trip, but there wasn't a great lead up to it, no big anticipation, and I wasn't sure how or if that would affect the trip. Our vacation didn't officially start until early, early Thursday morning (when our flight left), but my mom came in Wednesday afternoon so we could head to the big city to get some good sleep before catching our flight. She lives about 5 hours away, so we see each other often, but not like every weekend. We chatted about schedules and what the week looked like, but I wasn't worried...she had more than proven herself with taking over our chaos 10 months ago.

This past April I ended up needing another emergency back surgery, this was my third. Turns out I had a cancerous tumor on my spine, totally unrelated to my other previous issues. A myxopapillary ependymoma. Thankfully they were able to remove all of it, and I didn't need chemo or radiation. I was down and out for 6 weeks after the surgery. I wasn't allowed to sit up for 2 weeks or lift anything heavier than the Sunday newspaper for the full 6 weeks. My mom was such a blessing. She came out every other week, for a week at a time, to help relieve my friends, who had graciously taken over the 24/7 needs of our family. She knew the drill. I knew she could handle it! (I will return once a year for a brain, neck and spine MRI to make sure the cancer has not returned, my first is just around the corner)

We went over the kids schedules and needs a couple of times, and waited for Michael, Elsa and Easton to come home from school. The plan was for Elsa and I to load up our suitcases, drive 1 hour in the opposite direction of our airport (which is already 1.5 hours away from our house) to watch Michael's sectional v-ball game. Everything went as planned, and after saying our goodbyes to Meema and the littles we were off! Sadly, Michael's team lost, but there was little time to feel poorly, because we were finally on our way!

The trip up to the big city flew by and we were a little giddy checking into our hotel room. We've done the Sleep-Park-Fly package with a different hotel for a previous trip, but this was the package done right! This hotel was better, the parking was easier, it was cheaper, and they had a pool. This always make Elsa happy.

She swam for about an hour and I finally had to drag her out of the pool. The girl is a fish, I tell you. Our flight was leaving at 7:20am and it was nearing 10:20pm and we needed to go to sleep! I told her to roll her swimsuit up in a towel to soak up the water. Packing wet swimsuits is never fun. We changed into our jammies, ate our Subway and Elsa jumped on the bed.

We finally secured our wake-up call for 5:15 am, turned out the lights, settled into our beds and spent some time asking each other "would you rather" Disney questions. It didn't take long before we were both out like a light.

Next Up: BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP...

 

[LAH LAH]

Awesome story!

I jumped on over to your Trip Report and good golly, your little one is so cute! Congratulations!

2 weeks at Disney? Was it too much? Would you do it again?

 

[cstorm65]

I jumped on over to your Trip Report and good golly, your little one is so cute! Congratulations!

2 weeks at Disney? Was it too much? Would you do it again?

Thanks, he is cute! 2 Weeks got a little long, but we hadn't been on any type of vacation in two years with the entire adoption process moving and a few hang ups we had along the way...so we wanted a nice long one. Probably wouldn't do that much just at Disney World again without taking it even easier at times than we did. This summer we are doing a 4 day cruise and 6 park days at Disney. We are thinking that may be the perfect length.

Thanks for jumping over and reading.

 

[littlezar]

So scary about your back surgery. Glad all went well and chemo wasn't needed.

Bummer about Michael's team losing at sectionals.

I should have known there would be a jumping on the bed pic before I scrolled down!

Great start to the vacation! Can't wait to read more!

 

[partyof2]

You've started!

Congrats on your new job, what an absolute dream.

So sorry to hear about your cancer, that must have been a scary time for all of you. So pleased that things worked out alright.

 

[LAH LAH]

Thanks, he is cute! 2 Weeks got a little long, but we hadn't been on any type of vacation in two years with the entire adoption process moving and a few hang ups we had along the way...so we wanted a nice long one. Probably wouldn't do that much just at Disney World again without taking it even easier at times than we did. This summer we are doing a 4 day cruise and 6 park days at Disney. We are thinking that may be the perfect length.

Thanks for jumping over and reading.

I think if we did 2 weeks it would have to very slow paced. We did 7 days once and we were EXHAUSTED by the end!

So scary about your back surgery. Glad all went well and chemo wasn't needed.

Bummer about Michael's team losing at sectionals.

I should have known there would be a jumping on the bed pic before I scrolled down!

Great start to the vacation! Can't wait to read more!

It was actually a blessing we found out about the tumor when we did. Had it grown much larger it would have been too wrapped around my spine to remove with out damage to my legs. The terrible pain down my leg was from another disc that still needs to be repaired. That alerted them to the tumor when they did the MRI. Between the disc and tumor they weren't sure which to address first (I had lost bladder function by this time). They went in to remove the tumor first and somehow when they opened up my back it relieved the disc pressure enough so all the wicked pain down my leg was gone, and all feeling came back (over the course of 2 months, and lots of physical therapy).

You've started!

Congrats on your new job, what an absolute dream.

So sorry to hear about your cancer, that must have been a scary time for all of you. So pleased that things worked out alright.

I am soooo excited about the job. Thanks!!!

It was a very scary thing, especially for Michael and Elsa. The littles were happy to have all that extra one on one attention and got to come up to my room to visit once a day. Ha!

 

[LAH LAH]

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...​

"Oh my word, why oh why is the alarm going off at 4:30 am?!!" We asked for a wake up call at 5:15 am, but the previous guests in our hotel room must have needed an even earlier wake-up. I never thought to check the alarm clock before we went to sleep. I was soooooo tired, but decided to start the day in spite of the wicked early time. I took a shower and then tried to wake up Elsa. If I was tired, she was half dead. We were excited to start our trip, but did I mention we were tired?!! We packed up our bags, did a double check of the hotel room and headed down to breakfast, but not before snapping a pic:

That's what 5:30 am looks like. Hahaha! The hotel had a really nice continental breakfast and we dug right in. The lobby and dining areas were deserted except for Elsa, myself, and a Grandmother and her 3 year old granddaughter. This little girl was screaming, and screeching, and throwing tantrum after tantrum. The Grandma was offering this little girl the world and she just kept acting up. I have a feeling this little one rules the roost and is never told "no". The Grandma was making small talk with us over the screaming toddler and asking where we were off to so early. We told her, and she excitedly exclaimed she was taking her granddaughter there as well. We asked her which flight she was on (I swear, we were crossing our fingers under the table that it wasn't ours) and thankfully, it wasn't. Phewwww! We dodged a bullet there!

Shuttle took us to the airport and quickly our bags were checked and we flew through security. We found our gate and hung out for an hour waiting to board the plane. The airport is usually so empty at this time of the day we could have probably slept in till 6 and still made our 7:20 flight, with time to spare. I forgot to do the 24 hour check-in for our flights until about 2pm the day before, so needless to say we were some of the last to board the plane. We were so tired we didn't even care if we were sitting together. Hahahaha!

We ended up in the first row, I on the right and Elsa across the aisle to the left. It worked out fine. We had soooo much leg room! The lady next to me was from Canada and this was their second trip to Disney. She was super excited and asked about a gajillion questions about what they should do, what they should see, and fretted about the chilly weather facing us. I didn't mind the company, but Elsa had other plans:

I was excited to get to Disney, but I wasn't excited at the same time. Do you know what I mean? I was waiting for that "Oh My Gosh!!! It's really happening!!!! I can't contain it any longer!!!!" feeling, but it felt more like "Yay! We are going back!" Usually on the plane I am bubbling over with anticipation. I think I was just tired. The flight was very uneventful and we arrived in Orlando a full 25 minutes ahead of schedule. How does that happen?!! I thought when I stepped off the airplane ramp and touched Orlando ground the giddiness would kick in. Nope. Then the Disney store:

Nope. Then the fake monorail. Nope.

Then Magical Express. Maybe a little bit, but only because it was our first experience using our magic bands we decorated:

They oohed and ahhhed over the uniqueness of our bands. We like being oohed and ahhhed over. We settled into our seats on the travel bus and tried to summon up the "WOOT WOOT!!! We are HEEEEERE!" feelings.

It didn't work. We just wanted to sleep. We rested while we made the half hour trip to our favorite place on earth, and watched the way over acted intro video on the bus. We were almost to the famous Disney World sign when I asked Elsa if she remembered to pack her swim suit. She had not. Apparently she had rolled up her suit in a towel and left it there over night. I meant for her to roll it up to get out as much water as possible and hang it up in the bathroom to dry even more. I called the hotel and they found it by the door of our hotel room still wrapped up nice and tight in a towel. They assured us they would hold onto it until we returned. Yay for nice hotel staff, boo for no bathing suit for the fish-girl.

Check-in at POP was a breeze and we were a little disappointed we weren't in the 60's section, but we were in building 10 (70's) VERY close to the buses! While walking through the lobby, I was stopped by a nice cast member asking if I would be willing to participate in a daily diary. She said I needed to write in it every night when I get back to my room. Pretty much just checking off boxes about what park I visited, how many Fast Passes planned and used, if I used my Magic Band for food purchases outside of the Dining Plan, and how many gift stores we went into or walked through and any purchases made while there. I'm always up for something new, so I said YES! She said I needed to mail it back and 6-8 weeks later I would receive a gift for participating.

After agreeing to do daily homework for Disney, we grabbed our mugs and got ready to order our first Free Dining meal! All the stations had changed at POP and I was at a burrito/fajita station. Everything looked fantastic. While they were preparing the chicken, another one was helping me get my toppings on my tortilla. The more I looked at the options I noticed they were all "seasoned". I asked if there was garlic in it and they said they would ask the chef. He came out from the back and stood right beside me and asked if I was allergic to garlic, to which I responded yes. He let out a big sigh and said he was "so sorry". He took me from station to station explaining all the foods and there was actually no real meal options (other than the prepackaged sandwiches) that didn't include garlic. He stated over and over though that all I had to do was inform them of my allergy and they would make whatever I needed on a back grill, garlic-free. He was soooo kind! I ended up getting a grilled chicken sandwich and they were so speedy in preparing it from scratch. I just love that about Disney!

The tie-dye cheesecake is now squirted into a plastic bowl. This little bowl was soooo sturdy. Not like usual throw away packaging. I decided to save mine, and even wandered the room looking for people who might be about to throw theirs away. Elsa just laughingly rolled her eyes at me. I didn't care. I got free sturdy bowls with lids, and I didn't have to pay for them.

We made it to our room, dropped off our stuff, decided it isn't too far away from everything and we both asked if the other was excited. We tried to reassure one another that we must just be tired. Last trip I was in an internal funk for the first 3 days because I missed the littles so much. I had made peace with that this trip and all though I missed them, it wasn't funk worthy.

With our stuff stashed in our room, and our bellies full, we were ready to head off to the Magic Kingdom. We were just sure that when we finally walked down Main Street the magic would return...

 

[littlezar]

Woohoo! The magic started early with the screaming toddler being on a different flight!!

Bummer about the bathing suit being left behind! (But, yay, that the hotel found it and is holding on to it!)

Can't wait to see what your gift is for keeping the diary!

Glad you caught that there was garlic in everything before eating! Too funny about saving the bowl from the tie dye cheesecake! That's totally something I would do!

I bet you and Elsa feel the magic as soon as you see the castle!

 

[JessM]

I'm in! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Traveling when tired is the worst! I swear even the Disney magic sometimes can't snap you out of it!

 

[Jennifer48]

Sorry I'm so late, but I made it!

I'm so sorry to hear about your cancer scare. Glad everything worked out for the best.

I hope you get out of your funk soon, you are in DISNEY WORLD!

 

[LAH LAH]

Woohoo! The magic started early with the screaming toddler being on a different flight!! Bummer about the bathing suit being left behind! (But, yay, that the hotel found it and is holding on to it!) Can't wait to see what your gift is for keeping the diary! Glad you caught that there was garlic in everything before eating! Too funny about saving the bowl from the tie dye cheesecake! That's totally something I would do! I bet you and Elsa feel the magic as soon as you see the castle!

I gathered 5 of those little tubs to take home ha!!

 

[LAH LAH]

I'm in! I can't wait to hear all about your trip! Traveling when tired is the worst! I swear even the Disney magic sometimes can't snap you out of it!

Yay!! Happy to have you here! I'll post more once my computer cord gets delivered